Dr Elisa Smit - Consultant Neonatologist

In this episode the students are going to introduce you to Dr Elisa Smith. Elisa is a consultant pediatrician, specialising in the field of neonatology. She currently works at the neonatal intensive care unit in Cardiff where she is the clinical lead.

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Transcript

Intro 00:00

Hello, and welcome to the Stem Untapped Podcast series. We're delighted that you could join us. Research from Microsoft reveals that having a role model was one of the most effective ways to prevent girls falling out of love with STEM subjects. As all partners at Untapped are female scientists, and many of our clients and associates are female scientists, we felt that we had a unique opportunity to map students with a variety of role models of their choice. This way, students can ask the questions that are most important to them, allowing them to gain access into a diverse array of different STEM careers.  In this podcast, the students are going to introduce you to Elisa, who is a consultant paediatrician specialising in the field of neonatology. She currently works at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Cardiff, where she is the Clinical Lead.

Student Interviewers 00:56

So can you tell us a bit about yourself and like, what your current job is?

Elisa Smit 01:00

I'm a paediatrician, I'm originally from Holland. So I didn't train in this country. So I didn't go to school in the UK, I went to school in Holland. But the schooling system is very similar. So I'd sort of did very similar subjects to what you've done, sort of did all the sciences. And then at a time I went on to go to medical school in Holland, there weren't enough places in medical school. And there weren't even any sort of entry exams, I literally had to go through a lottery system. They literally pulled notes out of a hat sort of, and I was unlucky. I didn't get in. So I then started to look further afield and actually went to Belgium. I did all my medical school in Belgium. I sort of knew towards the end that I really wanted to do paediatrics, and there weren't that many job opportunities, both in Holland and in Belgium. So that's when I thought, well, let's look a bit further afield. And that's how I ended up in the UK. So I then there's all my training in the UK to become a paediatrician. And I'm now working in Cardiff in the University Hospital of Wales and I work, so within paediatrics you can even specialise further. So I've then specialised in the fields of sort of newborn babies. And at the same time, I've got other roles as well. Because sometimes when you think sort of a career in medicine, you become a doctor. But actually, it's a really wide range of things that you can become when you become a doctor. So I've sort of worked as a researcher, I work at the University as well and do some teaching at the university. So there's quite a few things I do at the moment,

Student Interviewers 02:27

What type of activities you do every day, like what's your normal day to day?

Elisa Smit 02:32

So my normal day to day is obviously looking after the babies on a baby unit. There's a team of 10 paediatricians, so you can't do it all on your own, obviously, because we needed to be there day and night. So there's nurses involved, there’s dietitians involved, there might be a speech and language therapist or physiotherapist. So there's a whole team of people that looks after these really poorly babies. As I already mentioned earlier, there's other things I do as well. So a big part of my role is teaching new doctors that are coming through, sort of teaching them what they need to know to become a paediatrician. I do a lot of teaching with the nurses as well, because they need to learn certain things to be able to do their job. And then I also teach to the people abroad that want to learn more about what it is to be sort of, so my proper name for what I do as a Neonatologist. So that's a doctor that specialises in newborn babies. And at the same time, another part of my role is making sure that we learn from how can we do better because we've got all these different treatments that we give these babies to make them better. But then we want to sort of know, what can we do better to make their outcome better, because if you're born really early, it does impact on you later in life, you might have some difficulties going to school and learning. So what we want to do is to give them the best possible chance right at the start when they're born. And that's sort of that's where research comes in.

Student Interviewers 03:51

Can you tell us a bit about how you saw STEM subjects when you were our age?

Elisa Smit 03:57

At your age I really didn't see the point. It's really interesting. I was sort of like, how is this going to help me because I was a bit like you. I thought I probably wanted to go into medicine. I wasn't entirely sure. And then I was studying all these things like what is the point of it? Like, how is this going to help me? And when I look now, a lot of the things I learned I use now in my day to day life. So I mean maths we use every day, because all these tiny babies need medicines. And medicines are based on what a baby weighs. And we've got babies that weigh half a kilo. So it's sort of a pound, and we've got babies that weigh three or four kilos, so completely different. And all the medicines we have to work out based on their weight. So that's just your maths, day in, day out. But then for example, when you look at your chemistry and your periodic table, at the time it sort of feels really dry, like what am I going to do with all these chemical elements? And I work with them every day now. So all these babies have blood tests every day to make sure their body is working properly. And we measure their salt levels. So we look at their sodium, potassium chloride levels, all these elements that appear in the periodic table, that you’re not really sure what the mean. I sort of work with every day now. If you're studying physics as well, when you sort of learn about, I don't know, air flows or wave forms… at the time, I thought, well, how is this going to help me. But day in, day out, we've got babies on breathing machines. And we really look at how the flow goes into the breathing machine and into the baby's lungs so that we can breathe for them if they can't do it themselves. Learning a physics about resistance of flow and things like that, it doesn't really mean a lot until you start using it. And now looking back on it, I'm using all these things every day, day in day out. 

Student Interviewers 05:46

What kept you involved in STEM when you were at school?

Elisa Smit 05:49

So what I really enjoyed was all the practical elements, because I don't know how you learn these days. But we got to do all these experiments and all the practical elements. And I really enjoyed that. And we'd even go out and sort of do little experiments. Again, I'm not entirely sure how you guys get taught? But that's what kept me going. And sort of, I guess, having that goal of knowing I do need to do this, if I want to go into medicine, it is something I have to do. So even though I don't enjoy all elements of it, sort of having that goal, and knowing you want to reach that goal really helped me to keep going. And I'm so pleased I did because without it, obviously I wouldn't be where I am now. So yeah, I think having that goal. And we all know that sometimes there's difficult periods and bits you don't like and then there's periods you really enjoy. So I guess those really help you to keep going.

Student Interviewers 06:36

How did you overcome all the barriers, like the hard times? 

Elisa Smit 06:41

If you really want something, keep that goal in mind and just don't give up? You might have a week where you really struggle. So talk to other people see if you can find someone who can help you.

Student Interviewers 06:53

What would make you choose STEM subjects in the first place?

Elisa Smit 06:56

If you know early on which direction you want to go with this help to know which subjects to study. But yeah, I really enjoyed it.

Student Interviewers 07:03

So have you got any role models?

Elisa Smit 07:06

I must say at your stage, I really can't recall having any role models. Because there was no internet, there was no… well there was a bit of internet. But it wasn't like as broad, I couldn't really go and look up things like you guys can do now. So can't really recall at your stage having role models. But throughout my career, I've definitely had people that I looked up to or that I feel gosh, I really wanted to be like you. In particular, I remember this professor that I worked with. She's Norwegian, but she worked in the UK. And she did a lot of brain research in babies. So obviously, that's how I've come to be what I am now. And I really looked up to her, but she was quite approachable. So I think if you're looking at role models, find someone that is approachable, that is quite close to where you are, and that you can just easily ask questions to say, look, I'm really struggling with this. What should I do? Or how did you get to what you are now. So I guess all throughout I found people but so many, if you start looking, there's so many female scientists out there that definitely are role models, it definitely shows that you can be whatever you want to be I think, especially for girls in STEM, I think that's really important.

Student Interviewers 08:14

And do you think it's important for people just starting out to have these role models to look up to, to help them?

Elisa Smit 08:22

Sometimes it's really hard to imagine getting to a certain stage, isn't it? Like finishing your exams or getting into medical school or seeing that next step, but when you meet people who are doing it, it helps you to maybe feel a bit more secure? Yes, you can probably do it because I felt a bit like that when I was sort of at your stage, can I actually do it? Is this something for me? It seems like this amazing thing that people are doing. But sometimes you start to doubt yourself, like, can I actually do it? And is it for me, so meeting people who are there already doing it really helps for you to hopefully yeah, learn more about it and make sure that it's the right thing for you. Because that's the other thing, sometimes you think you want to do something and sometimes it helps you to decide not to do something by meeting someone. And that's important to know early on as well, isn't it? Making the right choices and the right decisions? Because it will set you up for the rest of your career then and for the rest of your life.

Student Interviewers 09:13

Can you tell us about what working in a STEM career is like and what do you like about it?

Elisa Smit 09:20

So gosh, that's a big question, I guess. And we've touched on quite a lot already. So for me reflecting back on when I was studying all these STEM subjects as a student at your age, and it's sort of not really making sense why I'm studying it. And now using it day in day out is just so cool and so fun. So, yeah, it's sort of it's there all the time without you almost realising like I'm using all these STEM subjects day in day out without even thinking about it. Yeah, it's just really interesting and it keeps challenging you as well. So I get a lot of students coming in asking me questions. So I need to think back like, oh gosh, what was it again? And how do I explain it? So that's really interesting. Again, coming back to the periodic table, for example, I did a lot of research with one of the gases on there. Can you remember the noble gases? One of them is xenon gas. So at the time, Xenon was just one of these sort of special gases on the periodic table don't really know a lot more about it. But five years ago, I was involved in a big research study where we gave this gas to newborn babies who were at risk of brain damage. So I learned all of a sudden, a lot more about just this one specific gas on the periodic table. And we're trying to work out if this helps babies recover after they've had brain damage to see if it makes them better. You've got all these things that you've learned many, many years ago, and now they're coming back.

Student Interviewers 10:53

Is there anything you dislike about your career in STEM? 

Elisa Smit 10:56

I guess what I didn't know when I started was how long it takes to become a paediatrician. So I sort of painted it a bit. So I went to medical school in Belgium, which was eight years. And then I came to the UK to do my paediatric training. And that was eight years. And then I did research for three years, and in that period I also had a baby so I was on maternity leave for a year. I was 37 by the time I finally became a paediatrician, and I had friends who done completely different careers. So I don’t know, someone who'd become a chef who'd finished like when he was 25, he was finished, he was a chef, it was a restaurant. So he had his whole career done and planned and I was still going through the paces having to do exams. So unfortunately, you have to keep doing exams as you keep going throughout your career. So obviously, medical school have a lot of exams, and then paediatric training as a lot of exams as well. And I don't think I quite realised how long that kept going,

Student Interviewers 11:56

If you could change anything about your career in STEM, what would you change and why?

Elisa Smit 12:00

I've really, really enjoyed it, I don't think I would want to change anything in particular, I guess maybe being a little bit more prepared for certain things. But that's quite hard, because sometimes you only later on realised what it was that you needed to prepare for. And things like what you're doing now, this really help and it just didn't exist when I was sort of your age. So I guess for the two of you definitely keep making sure you stay involved in things like this and just find as much information as you can to make sure it is the right career for you. What I also hadn't appreciated when I first started was how diverse it is. So even you say you're going to go into medicine, it's so diverse, it can give you so many different options. I've got friends who have gone into completely different directions. Obviously, within medicine, we think okay, you become a doctor. So either you become a GP or you work in a hospital. But I have friends who said no work and drug companies, for example, making new medicines or making new vaccines, which is a particularly hot topic at the moment with the new COVID vaccines, for example, those are all people that have probably gone through medical school, you don't really think of them as if people who have gone through medical school. I've got other friends who have completely gone into education. So it has to do with medicine. But they’ve sort of got bigger roles in the universities. It's hugely diverse. And I just hadn't quite appreciated it. So I think that's actually quite a positive. It's not a negative. And I we were talking about things I could change. But maybe knowing that at the start would make me feel a bit more secure about going in it because it doesn't feel so narrowed. And it feels like actually there’s all these opportunities. Even when you decided to go in it. You can still go all these different directions.

Student Interviewers 13:39

What's the biggest thing you've ever done? The craziest thing? Have you had a crazy case?

Elisa Smit 13:45

I mean, kids, kids are crazy. So especially the little ones, so they swallow all sorts of funny things. So I've heard all sorts of things that we've had to wait to come out the bottom end, so pieces of Lego and also it's that kids have sort of swallowed. And then you have to give the parents some advice about well just watch what comes out the next day. So that's the only some of the crazier things that we have to deal with.

Student Interviewers 14:05

What difference would you like these podcasts to make to any girls listening that are interested in STEM?

Elisa Smit 14:13

Definitely give them the confidence to do what they want to do and not be afraid, and sort of hear that it is possible. There might be hurdles along the way. But as long as you keep going and ask for help, get people around you to help you and support you then you'll get there absolutely fine.

Outro 14.31

Thank you for joining another Stem Untapped podcast. If you know of a school or group of students that would like to interview female STEM role models to get in touch. Likewise, if you know of anyone who would be a great female STEM role model, please do let us know. Our details are all documented in the show notes.